Plex Media Server finally comes out of beta

Plex Media Server has finally come out of beta in its first full release.

Plex started out way back in 2008 as a small media server project, and received its first public release in 2010. It's been in perpetual beta since that time, but has nonetheless become arguably the best way to stream content to your TV, and has been used by millions of people.

It's proved popular with those looking to set up a media server on their computer that organises all of their disparate media content and streams it to mobile devices, smart TVs, and games consoles. It even works on Apple TV.

Plex Media Server 1.0 is out now with a string of very minor updates, but what's most notable is the fact that it's hit version 1.0. This means that it's no longer beta software. It's considered a proper, reliable media server tool.

So why commit to version 1.0 now, when there are no major new features?

"Shipping software with a release number below v1.0 brings a certain mindset," explains a related Plex blog post. "It's technically beta, which means a few (small, but meaningful) things: for the user, it hints at instability (hey, it could set your house on fire, or make your marsupials go extinct!) and for the engineer, it's a temptation to make bigger, bolder, possibly breaking changes (hey, it's just a beta!). Neither of those are super positive things."

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Other than the name change, this is mainly about fixes and minor tweaks. Perhaps the most notable change is that support for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7 has been dropped - but the previous version of Plex will remain available for users of such systems.

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